A Review of Highway Agencies in the South Asia Region

A Review of Highway Agencies in the South Asia Region
Phase 3: Performance Focused on Output
Phase 3 is centered on the highway agency improving its performance monitoring with a
stronger focus on outputs and final outcomes, rather than inputs or intermediate outcomes.
This phase also requires highway agencies to apply rigorous and comprehensive measures
to analyze its data and information. In addition, the highway agencies need to gather
additional data and information. Internal procedures for the recruitment of staff, decisionmaking,
measurement of indicators, and collection of data and information might require
revision to ensure they still meet the requirements of the increased scrutiny of performance.
It is also likely that the targets for performance will become more demanding, requiring the
agency to fine-tune them.
Phase 4: Performance Monitoring Throughout the Organization
Conclusion
In Phase 4, the highway agency employs performance monitoring in every aspect of
decision-making and operation, fully extending its focus on outcome indicators. All
decisions in this phase would essentially be made on the basis of achieved performance
compared to targeted performance. In this phase, the transport infrastructure delivery/
management attributes need to be fully intertwined with transport service quality attributes
to have full control on the outcome indicators. This might require expanding the mandate of
the road agencies to include both provision of transport infrastructure and service delivery
or close collaboration with agencies responsible for provision of transport services.
The most apparent demand that this phase imposes on the agency is increasingly
encompassing and demanding procedures for collecting, processing and analyzing data
and information pertaining to the performance of the highway network and its use. The
agency will need to look at the environment in which it operates its strategic plan and actual
performance against set targets.
The four consecutive phases are progressively more demanding and expect significant
reforms from the highway agencies and the respective governments, in particular, in
Phases 1 and 2. These changes occur in several areas and will need to be implemented in a
coordinated manner. Performance monitoring without the proper institutional structure,
mandate and appetite for reform will, most likely, not yield the desired result. The changes
may appear overwhelming initially, but the phased approach proposed in this study should
guide highway agencies and the respective governments in this process. Governments will
thus be able to demand a highway network that offers value for money in terms of moving
goods and people within, to and from their jurisdictions.
The task team intends to disseminate the study findings in two/three stakeholder
workshops across the region to help the road agencies in setting up and managing
performance monitoring systems through future World Bank-funded projects. In addition,
the team recommends that the World Bank continue to facilitate international knowledge
transfer and help in setting up and managing a performance evaluation system, and
linking human resources and institutional reforms with performance evaluation systems.
Finally, there is a need to undertake a follow-up study on developing agency capacity and
performance evaluation systems linked to budget allocation/support from the finance
department.
Authors’ note: While every effort has been made to incorporate findings and feedback from all five countries
included in this study into this report, it may be possible that there is preponderance of findings and data
with reference to India as this country has the largest network and vehicle fleet as well as several central and
provincial level road and highway agencies in the South Asia region.
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